Understanding California’s relationship with the Colorado River
It may feel like California is flush with water at the moment, after a winter of historic storms that replenished drought-starved lakes and left the Sierra Nevada snowpack at the deepest it’s been in 28 years. But follow the Colorado River, which supplies 15% of California’s water, back to bottomed-out reservoirs like Nevada’s Lake Mead, and it becomes clear the future of water in the Golden State is still very much in flux. After decades of drought and overuse, the Colorado River system is on the verge of collapse. To prevent that, every state that draws water from the river must significantly cut back on what it takes in the coming years. How much that affects California, which receives by far the largest portion of any state, will depend on how we fare in a battle now being waged between states, Native American tribes, agricultural giants and the federal government.
Related articles:
- WBUR: How will the West adapt as the Colorado River runs dry?
- Deseret News: The Colorado River and what Romney, Lee and other senators are doing
- Fox Weather: Long term ‘isn’t looking good’ for Lake Mead and Lake Powell, America’s largest reservoirs
- KTVB – Boise: ‘One wet year is not going to solve the problem’: Why the Colorado River is running out of water